So we've just returned from our annual trek to Santa Fe, New Mexico to see their season of opera. For three weeks each summer, their schedule is such that you can see all 5 operas in a one-week period - and we did!
The operas were uniformly wonderfully produced and sung: Traviata was staged on a stage covered with square-ish blocks (some called it a graveyard) that magically transformed to a party house, to a rural garden, to a sick-room. The Violetta was wonderful, even when singing on her deathbed (or hanging over the sides). The rest of the cast were also great; the orchestra played well.
La Donna del Lago (based on the Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott) was very Scots and not only Joyce Di Donato (lately of the Met), but everyone else sang in the belle canto style (lots of coloratura, whether female or male singers). This style usually puts me to sleep, but there was no slumbering here - too exciting. Stagecraft was also wonderful to watch! This production will be going to the Met in 2015: lock, stock, and barrel.
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein was a fabulously produced Offenbach ditty. The production was better than the music, though everyone sang well enough. Lots of stagecraft here, too. Just sort of a long opera, though it starred Susan Graham (also lately of the Met).
The Marriage of Figaro was next. A wonderful production (am I using that phrase too often?) with equally wonderful singing. I always get the two Figaro operas confused and kept waiting for the tenor to start popping off high C's - in vain. There were ingenious sets that conquered the space limitations of Santa Fe's stage well. One wall unit kept stretching as additional sections were added as it made it's way slowly across the entire stage and off the other side. All from 12-foot deep wings!
Last was the world premiere of Oscar, based on the final years of Oscar Wilde's life. Modern music from a composer new to opera, a fabulous counter-tenor in the lead, the usual Santa Fe over-the-top production. Not sure it shouldn't be subject to a re-write before it plays in Philadelphia in 2015, though. There will be time to make some adjustments, as the opera commentator remarked.
We also added a backstage tour of their opera house. Great to see the sets and costumes up close (no touching!) and the shops and workrooms that produce it all.
Our travels included a flight from our nearest airport in Leon to Tijuana, walking across the border, dinner at a restaurant in Pacific Beach, then (for something completely different) Sister Act - the Musical which was in town. The next morning we flew to Albuquerque, picked up a rental car (gosh, that guy wanted so badly to sell us the insurance add-on, but we'd already bought a rental-car policy, so no sale), and trundled off to Santa Fe. By that time we were running late, so went directly to our friends' house for dinner and eventually drove north of town to Buffalo Thunder (a casino and resort). By that time is was very dark and pouring down rain, so it wasn't a drive that I'd want to repeat. During the day it seemed like a short trip; under less favorable conditions it took forever! [Why don't they acquaint you with the car before you drive off the lot? We didn't find the complete wiper controls until much later in the trip - and it rained the first day!]
Our days were full of shopping, dining, opera house tours, naps, and spa times. Our hotel (we stayed at the nearby Homewood Suites) provided breakfast and dinners most days, so we had lunches out and about town. On the next Saturday - before repeating our earlier travel plans in reverse - we had time for an additional lunch with our friends before heading south to ABQ. We had attended two operas with them, taking advantage of the Opera Buffets and talks by Desiree Mays; good interpretations of the operas and fabulous food (the lamb in a chipotle-chocolate sauce the first night was particularly wonderful)! We may just book ourselves into the buffets every night the next time we're there.
Yes, whenever that is. We probably won't attend Santa Fe next year - too many commitments in August. But we're looking forward to hearing the repertoire for 2015 when it's announced later this year. Here's hoping for Thais....
Monday, August 12, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Stormy Weather
I know you've secretly been wondering 'What's the weather like down there?' So here's a storm report.
This is our rainy season, so it's not surprising that there have been storms, but I haven't seen storms like these since I was a kid in Indiana. That was when (I was in the third grade or so) my bed was under a double window and when a storm approached, I would be up on my knees on the bed, leaning against the window sill watching the lightning until Mom came in to check on us and shooed me away from the window ('You'll be struck by lightning!')
Living in southern California for many years, storms weren't so exciting and I had forgotten about them until last spring when I joined my sister and her husband in our old hometown of Brazil to spiff up a 1898 farmhouse. Boy, we had some storms there. In fact, we had a weather radio that sounded an alarm when a storm was predicted to hit.
After a few dry 'rainy seasons' in SMA, this year the storms are back with a vengeance! The last two nights it has rained, but quietly and softly. Last night we didn't really notice the sound of the rain at all - but things were wet when we awoke.
However, two nights ago all heck broke loose! I think this storm came in from the north; our storms usually arrive from the south and we can see them coming. A friend with a restaurant on the northern edge of town posted on FaceBook that they're received 1.99 inches of rain -- while the rain was just starting here on the southern edge of town.
Not sure how much rain we received, but it was one humdinger of a storm. Lots of lightning - really close and loud. We even lost power at one point in time, coordinating with a particularly close lightning strike.
Once we went upstairs to bed, you could watch out the french doors: lightning far enough away to be behind the hills lighting up the clouds from below; lightning higher in the sky lighting up the clouds from above; and the lightning right above us, crashing and reverberating enough to send the dogs into hiding between the bed and the dressers.
Then the rain began and it was a downpour. Not quite strong enough to wash all the dirt off the sidewalks down the block from last week's storm, but a storm proper.
I kept expecting to hear my mother's voice - 'Get away from that window!'
This is our rainy season, so it's not surprising that there have been storms, but I haven't seen storms like these since I was a kid in Indiana. That was when (I was in the third grade or so) my bed was under a double window and when a storm approached, I would be up on my knees on the bed, leaning against the window sill watching the lightning until Mom came in to check on us and shooed me away from the window ('You'll be struck by lightning!')
Living in southern California for many years, storms weren't so exciting and I had forgotten about them until last spring when I joined my sister and her husband in our old hometown of Brazil to spiff up a 1898 farmhouse. Boy, we had some storms there. In fact, we had a weather radio that sounded an alarm when a storm was predicted to hit.
After a few dry 'rainy seasons' in SMA, this year the storms are back with a vengeance! The last two nights it has rained, but quietly and softly. Last night we didn't really notice the sound of the rain at all - but things were wet when we awoke.
However, two nights ago all heck broke loose! I think this storm came in from the north; our storms usually arrive from the south and we can see them coming. A friend with a restaurant on the northern edge of town posted on FaceBook that they're received 1.99 inches of rain -- while the rain was just starting here on the southern edge of town.
Not sure how much rain we received, but it was one humdinger of a storm. Lots of lightning - really close and loud. We even lost power at one point in time, coordinating with a particularly close lightning strike.
Once we went upstairs to bed, you could watch out the french doors: lightning far enough away to be behind the hills lighting up the clouds from below; lightning higher in the sky lighting up the clouds from above; and the lightning right above us, crashing and reverberating enough to send the dogs into hiding between the bed and the dressers.
Then the rain began and it was a downpour. Not quite strong enough to wash all the dirt off the sidewalks down the block from last week's storm, but a storm proper.
I kept expecting to hear my mother's voice - 'Get away from that window!'
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
The Visa Game
Our ability to stay in Mexico legally depends upon having an appropriate visa. We've always had FM2 visas as that was a requirement before getting permanent resident status. There was also an FMM (tourist) visa good for 180 days at a time and the FM3 visa, a lesser visa that did not qualify you for permanent visa status. We knew we'd be staying here, so went directly to the FM2. The sooner we qualified for permanent resident status and didn't need to renew annually, the better.
Permanent residents qualified for a) no annual renewals and b) unlimited time out of the country. Under the FM2/3 (and the new Residente Temporal visa) time out of the country is limited to 75 days per year. And we're not gone more than that, but when they check for our permanent visas will they catch all the comings and goings? What if they think we've been gone since last year???
Then in 2011 the laws changed and a Residente Temporal (temporary resident) visa was created that encompassed the old FM3 and FM2 holders and also a Residente Permanente (the permanent resident). Of course, passing a law did not mean a great deal as the rules for applying the new law took about a year to formulate.
What they came up with was a rule that if you had a valid FM2 or FM3 visa, it would be good until your current visa's expiration date, at which time you would transition to the Temporal or Permanente visa. There were some good points to the law: Temporal visas were only good for 5 years, but after the first year you could purchase a renewal of one to 4 years. If you chose the 4-year renewal, you wouldn't have to deal with annual renewals until your visa expired. You could also change to the Permanente visa once you had cycled through the time period for the Temporal - or leave the country, visit a Mexican consulate for a preliminary approval for a new Temporal visa, and then return to Mexico and finish the application process. (Although there seems to be an interpretation that only one Temporal visa is permitted. One must move from Temporal to Permanente.)
We had originally used the services of a facilitator to gain our first FM2 and each renewal every August. It still involved going to the INM building and sitting around to be processed - in addition to the return visit for fingerprints and to pick up the visa.
Last year we sort of did it ourselves, using the services of a Notorio Publico whose office was across the street from INM. For a reasonable fee we walked in, answered some questions so they could fill out the forms, took another form to a local bank to pay the visa fee (fees are not paid at government offices in Mexico; fees are paid at a bank who gives you a receipt for the payment and then sends the funds on to a government bank). Upon our return to the Notorio with proof of payment, they took our visa photos, handed us the completed packet and we went across the street to go through the process of applying for the renewal.
This year, with the changes in the law, we thought it best to again use a facilitator and a friend recommended one. We talked to him, laying out our position and wrinkles that needed to be accommodated. We also emailed another facilitator about our situation, but received only a brief reply that repeated some of what I had written to her. We also briefly considered a few other facilitators, but decided against using them.
So we went with the first person we actually talked with. Because it would be perhaps a little tricky to financially qualify for the Permanente out of the hat this year (more later), he proposed that we renew at the Temporal level this year, giving us our 4th year, and then apply for the Permanente visa next year, when we would have satisfied the complete term at the Temporal/FM2-3 level and not be required to show financials.
The financial situation arose because of DOMA - the federal Defense of Marriage Act in the U.S. Because of the years of service to my employer in California, I qualified to have my health insurance premium paid by my retirement association. And because we are legally married in California, Michael's health insurance was also paid. However, the IRS is a federal agency and when it was time to file our taxes, his share of the health premiums were suddenly 'imputted income' on which taxes were due! I can tell you that the first year this came as a shock. So we adjusted our withholding amount, but that lowered the amount of retirement benefits I actually received at our bank - hence the trickiness. So I eventually cancelled the additional withholding and saved it in an account at the bank after being paid our monthly pittance so we would look more financially secure.
With the Supreme Court striking down DOMA, we have hope that the IRS will no longer require 'imputted income' for our health premiums, but we're waiting for our retirement association to tell us so - just as they are waiting for the IRS to re-write their requirements.
The other wrinkle to this business is that we had begun attending the Santa Fe Opera in Santa Fe, New Mexico during the summer. To make that journey more worthwhile, we scheduled our visit during one of the weeks that one could enjoy a different opera each night and see their entire season in one fell swoop. The first year we tried this, we had purchased tickets to a buffet on the grounds and the seaters at the event put us at a table with two other local guys, with whom we really hit it off. We visited each other during the rest of the year (they enjoyed the beach cities in California) and that sort of thing. We've been back annually since then.
To avoid the crush in town, we switched from the week of Indian Marketplace (or 'Indian Markup,' as it's known locally) to an earlier week that still featured the entire season. But this put us at odds with our visa renewals.
You can apply up to a month earlier than your renewal date, so that was okay. However with the changes to the visa situation, the visas were no longer available in just a couple of weeks, but went through Mexico City and took up to two or three months to be processed.
Our new facilitator recommended that we apply as usual for the Temporal visa renewal and request a 60-Day Exit Permit to travel on while our visas were in process (existing visas are turned in with your application). So we had our new photos taken at a studio that made you look like a person instead of a gangster (to which we walked in the rain, arriving looking like drowned rats although we had just had our hairs coiffed), while still following the legal requirements for the pictures - hair off the forehead, both ears visible, no smiling, et cetera. We filled out a bunch of paperwork, and gave him the photos and our filing fees at a subsequent visit.
After filing for our renewals, we could apply for the exit permit, so yesterday we met the facilitator at a local bank to pay the exit/entrance permit fees, sign more paperwork, and off he went to INM.. That's when he called us and asked about the extra set of photos! Well, we managed to get them to him and he went on his way to INM again.
A friend of ours, who had applied for her Permanente visa, just got it back in two-weeks time -- a record! -- but we really couldn't plan on that with our renewals, so the exit permit was still a go. We will get that permit before we leave for Santa Fe and have to run around at the airport to get it stamped. If we also get our visas before we leave, so much the better. The exit permits were not terribly expensive and the extra pictures were included in the original price for the photo session.
As we leave for Santa Fe in just about 2-1/2 weeks, it's nice to have things coming together. Next year will be trickier, as it includes leaving the country on our Temporal visas and returning after they have expired and using the 60-day grace period to apply for our Permanentes. I'm hoping that they've streamlined the issuing process by then and we can get our new visas before leaving the country, but we'll see. We may even skip the opera next year which would give us a bit more time before we travel.
Oh, and the current thoughts from Aduana (Mexico's customs department) is that once we have a Permanente visa, we are no longer 'temporary' residents so our 'temporary' car permits are no longer valid and we can no longer drive a foreign-plated car, So our South Dakota-plated car must be sold (in the US) or nationalized. Just another thing to worry about!
Permanent residents qualified for a) no annual renewals and b) unlimited time out of the country. Under the FM2/3 (and the new Residente Temporal visa) time out of the country is limited to 75 days per year. And we're not gone more than that, but when they check for our permanent visas will they catch all the comings and goings? What if they think we've been gone since last year???
Then in 2011 the laws changed and a Residente Temporal (temporary resident) visa was created that encompassed the old FM3 and FM2 holders and also a Residente Permanente (the permanent resident). Of course, passing a law did not mean a great deal as the rules for applying the new law took about a year to formulate.
What they came up with was a rule that if you had a valid FM2 or FM3 visa, it would be good until your current visa's expiration date, at which time you would transition to the Temporal or Permanente visa. There were some good points to the law: Temporal visas were only good for 5 years, but after the first year you could purchase a renewal of one to 4 years. If you chose the 4-year renewal, you wouldn't have to deal with annual renewals until your visa expired. You could also change to the Permanente visa once you had cycled through the time period for the Temporal - or leave the country, visit a Mexican consulate for a preliminary approval for a new Temporal visa, and then return to Mexico and finish the application process. (Although there seems to be an interpretation that only one Temporal visa is permitted. One must move from Temporal to Permanente.)
We had originally used the services of a facilitator to gain our first FM2 and each renewal every August. It still involved going to the INM building and sitting around to be processed - in addition to the return visit for fingerprints and to pick up the visa.
Last year we sort of did it ourselves, using the services of a Notorio Publico whose office was across the street from INM. For a reasonable fee we walked in, answered some questions so they could fill out the forms, took another form to a local bank to pay the visa fee (fees are not paid at government offices in Mexico; fees are paid at a bank who gives you a receipt for the payment and then sends the funds on to a government bank). Upon our return to the Notorio with proof of payment, they took our visa photos, handed us the completed packet and we went across the street to go through the process of applying for the renewal.
This year, with the changes in the law, we thought it best to again use a facilitator and a friend recommended one. We talked to him, laying out our position and wrinkles that needed to be accommodated. We also emailed another facilitator about our situation, but received only a brief reply that repeated some of what I had written to her. We also briefly considered a few other facilitators, but decided against using them.
So we went with the first person we actually talked with. Because it would be perhaps a little tricky to financially qualify for the Permanente out of the hat this year (more later), he proposed that we renew at the Temporal level this year, giving us our 4th year, and then apply for the Permanente visa next year, when we would have satisfied the complete term at the Temporal/FM2-3 level and not be required to show financials.
The financial situation arose because of DOMA - the federal Defense of Marriage Act in the U.S. Because of the years of service to my employer in California, I qualified to have my health insurance premium paid by my retirement association. And because we are legally married in California, Michael's health insurance was also paid. However, the IRS is a federal agency and when it was time to file our taxes, his share of the health premiums were suddenly 'imputted income' on which taxes were due! I can tell you that the first year this came as a shock. So we adjusted our withholding amount, but that lowered the amount of retirement benefits I actually received at our bank - hence the trickiness. So I eventually cancelled the additional withholding and saved it in an account at the bank after being paid our monthly pittance so we would look more financially secure.
With the Supreme Court striking down DOMA, we have hope that the IRS will no longer require 'imputted income' for our health premiums, but we're waiting for our retirement association to tell us so - just as they are waiting for the IRS to re-write their requirements.
The other wrinkle to this business is that we had begun attending the Santa Fe Opera in Santa Fe, New Mexico during the summer. To make that journey more worthwhile, we scheduled our visit during one of the weeks that one could enjoy a different opera each night and see their entire season in one fell swoop. The first year we tried this, we had purchased tickets to a buffet on the grounds and the seaters at the event put us at a table with two other local guys, with whom we really hit it off. We visited each other during the rest of the year (they enjoyed the beach cities in California) and that sort of thing. We've been back annually since then.
To avoid the crush in town, we switched from the week of Indian Marketplace (or 'Indian Markup,' as it's known locally) to an earlier week that still featured the entire season. But this put us at odds with our visa renewals.
You can apply up to a month earlier than your renewal date, so that was okay. However with the changes to the visa situation, the visas were no longer available in just a couple of weeks, but went through Mexico City and took up to two or three months to be processed.
Our new facilitator recommended that we apply as usual for the Temporal visa renewal and request a 60-Day Exit Permit to travel on while our visas were in process (existing visas are turned in with your application). So we had our new photos taken at a studio that made you look like a person instead of a gangster (to which we walked in the rain, arriving looking like drowned rats although we had just had our hairs coiffed), while still following the legal requirements for the pictures - hair off the forehead, both ears visible, no smiling, et cetera. We filled out a bunch of paperwork, and gave him the photos and our filing fees at a subsequent visit.
After filing for our renewals, we could apply for the exit permit, so yesterday we met the facilitator at a local bank to pay the exit/entrance permit fees, sign more paperwork, and off he went to INM.. That's when he called us and asked about the extra set of photos! Well, we managed to get them to him and he went on his way to INM again.
A friend of ours, who had applied for her Permanente visa, just got it back in two-weeks time -- a record! -- but we really couldn't plan on that with our renewals, so the exit permit was still a go. We will get that permit before we leave for Santa Fe and have to run around at the airport to get it stamped. If we also get our visas before we leave, so much the better. The exit permits were not terribly expensive and the extra pictures were included in the original price for the photo session.
As we leave for Santa Fe in just about 2-1/2 weeks, it's nice to have things coming together. Next year will be trickier, as it includes leaving the country on our Temporal visas and returning after they have expired and using the 60-day grace period to apply for our Permanentes. I'm hoping that they've streamlined the issuing process by then and we can get our new visas before leaving the country, but we'll see. We may even skip the opera next year which would give us a bit more time before we travel.
Oh, and the current thoughts from Aduana (Mexico's customs department) is that once we have a Permanente visa, we are no longer 'temporary' residents so our 'temporary' car permits are no longer valid and we can no longer drive a foreign-plated car, So our South Dakota-plated car must be sold (in the US) or nationalized. Just another thing to worry about!
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Happenings (and a dash of weather)
Lest you begin to think that all we have in San Miguel is weather, a few notes about goings-on:
We have a friend who started a hostel. The owner of the building wants more business, but puts the kabosh on every idea our friend thinks of. Grrrr....
We have another friend who hosts a twice-weekly program in English about San Miguel happenings, who has done so well that he has recently been given a Spanish-language weekly program!
Another friend has recently met someone who lives in the South Pacific and is trying to figure out how to make it work out.
Yet another friend wants us all to go on a weekend-long retreat in the hills above Puebla.
Drama, options, frustrations!
Michael and I were supposed to attend a birthday party in 'nearby' Léon for the mother of a friend of ours who was celebrating a momentous birthday. We were unable to reach the owner of the puppy farm to board the dogs, so I stayed home with the two dogs. Michael enjoyed the partying; the dogs and I enjoyed the quiet.
Yes, 'two' dogs, not 'three.' Coca's health had been sliding and it was time to release her on the Thursday before the weekend of the party in Léon. She now presides over our entryway from her rather nice, ceramic urn.
Our 4th of July dinner party was held on Saturday, July 6th. Local groups held fundraising events on the 3rd and 4th. Why not a dinner on the 6th? We had planned on branching out and adding an additional person to our little group of stalwarts - and had done so. However, she cancelled at the last minute to support an old friend who was ending a difficult relationship. Guess we'll see her when she returns to SMA. We may even have finished the leftovers by then! [Note to self - Don't make so much! We finished one batch of ribs last night, but there's another in the freezer plus the rest of the Baja Chicken and side salads.]
Yesterday Michael and I went to see the facilitator who is helping us with our visa renewals this year. We would probably have done it ourselves (like last year), but there have been changes in the laws and our visas come due while we will be out of the country! A bit of help was needed. So we met Eduardo in his 'office' in the courtyard at Starbucks in the Centro Historico. Gave him a lot of information and will return to see him on Thursday to sign papers and hand over the government fees that will be due.
I must say, it will be handy to have someone else do the running around for us (government fees are not paid at government offices, but at local banks). We only had to get the necessary photos. [Accomplished a few days ago in the rain!] And since the renewal of our visas will most likely not provide us with physical visas before we need to leave the country for our annual visit to Santa Fee for the opera, Eduardo will handle getting us a temporary exit/entrance permit. So we'll be seeing him a few more times in the next week or so.
After leaving Starbucks, we picked up some more Controy at La Europea and began our walk home. Stopped for lunch at Hecho en Mexico - yummy as usual - and noticed a huge black cloud south of town as we walked along. Decided that if we wanted to be home before the rain reached us we would need to take a cab or bus, we opted for the bus ride (5 pesos vs 30-35 pesos). Riding the bus is always an adventure - and the bus was crowded when we got on it. Eventually snagged a seat and bounced and jostled along the street towards home (Michael bravely stood the whole way). Those topas (which double as crosswalks) are murder on a bus with a poor suspension system. The bus finally stopped at Mega (the big store we live near), so we hopped off and quickly walked the two blocks home - just in time to avoid the first drops of rain from that storm cloud.
Boy, did it rain! Not much thunder, but lots of rain and wind. Found out that the french doors in our bedroom are not impervious to wind-driven, slanting rain. And one of the windows in the cupola at the top of the stairs to the third floor even leaked a bit on the stairs leading up to the rooftop terrace.
If you're on FaceBook, Michael posted some pictures he took of the water shooting out of the bajantes de agua that drain rooftops and the huge puddle (read: lake) that formed at the bottom of our street which marooned a pickup truck (water up to it's windows). About an inch-and-a-half in less than an hour and our street slants downward so there's' lots of run-off. We need rain, but that was a bit much. Perhaps a lot of it will run off and end up in the presa??? There has been rain (usually with a lot of thunder and lightning), but it's been lighter precipitation-wise. Even today there continued to be light rainfall throughout the night.
Oh, and Fiyero was at the groomers in the afternoon, so Michael got to carry him around the local lake on the way home.
So, I managed to sneak some weather in this post, after all!
We have a friend who started a hostel. The owner of the building wants more business, but puts the kabosh on every idea our friend thinks of. Grrrr....
We have another friend who hosts a twice-weekly program in English about San Miguel happenings, who has done so well that he has recently been given a Spanish-language weekly program!
Another friend has recently met someone who lives in the South Pacific and is trying to figure out how to make it work out.
Yet another friend wants us all to go on a weekend-long retreat in the hills above Puebla.
Drama, options, frustrations!
Michael and I were supposed to attend a birthday party in 'nearby' Léon for the mother of a friend of ours who was celebrating a momentous birthday. We were unable to reach the owner of the puppy farm to board the dogs, so I stayed home with the two dogs. Michael enjoyed the partying; the dogs and I enjoyed the quiet.
Yes, 'two' dogs, not 'three.' Coca's health had been sliding and it was time to release her on the Thursday before the weekend of the party in Léon. She now presides over our entryway from her rather nice, ceramic urn.
Our 4th of July dinner party was held on Saturday, July 6th. Local groups held fundraising events on the 3rd and 4th. Why not a dinner on the 6th? We had planned on branching out and adding an additional person to our little group of stalwarts - and had done so. However, she cancelled at the last minute to support an old friend who was ending a difficult relationship. Guess we'll see her when she returns to SMA. We may even have finished the leftovers by then! [Note to self - Don't make so much! We finished one batch of ribs last night, but there's another in the freezer plus the rest of the Baja Chicken and side salads.]
Yesterday Michael and I went to see the facilitator who is helping us with our visa renewals this year. We would probably have done it ourselves (like last year), but there have been changes in the laws and our visas come due while we will be out of the country! A bit of help was needed. So we met Eduardo in his 'office' in the courtyard at Starbucks in the Centro Historico. Gave him a lot of information and will return to see him on Thursday to sign papers and hand over the government fees that will be due.
I must say, it will be handy to have someone else do the running around for us (government fees are not paid at government offices, but at local banks). We only had to get the necessary photos. [Accomplished a few days ago in the rain!] And since the renewal of our visas will most likely not provide us with physical visas before we need to leave the country for our annual visit to Santa Fee for the opera, Eduardo will handle getting us a temporary exit/entrance permit. So we'll be seeing him a few more times in the next week or so.
After leaving Starbucks, we picked up some more Controy at La Europea and began our walk home. Stopped for lunch at Hecho en Mexico - yummy as usual - and noticed a huge black cloud south of town as we walked along. Decided that if we wanted to be home before the rain reached us we would need to take a cab or bus, we opted for the bus ride (5 pesos vs 30-35 pesos). Riding the bus is always an adventure - and the bus was crowded when we got on it. Eventually snagged a seat and bounced and jostled along the street towards home (Michael bravely stood the whole way). Those topas (which double as crosswalks) are murder on a bus with a poor suspension system. The bus finally stopped at Mega (the big store we live near), so we hopped off and quickly walked the two blocks home - just in time to avoid the first drops of rain from that storm cloud.
Boy, did it rain! Not much thunder, but lots of rain and wind. Found out that the french doors in our bedroom are not impervious to wind-driven, slanting rain. And one of the windows in the cupola at the top of the stairs to the third floor even leaked a bit on the stairs leading up to the rooftop terrace.
If you're on FaceBook, Michael posted some pictures he took of the water shooting out of the bajantes de agua that drain rooftops and the huge puddle (read: lake) that formed at the bottom of our street which marooned a pickup truck (water up to it's windows). About an inch-and-a-half in less than an hour and our street slants downward so there's' lots of run-off. We need rain, but that was a bit much. Perhaps a lot of it will run off and end up in the presa??? There has been rain (usually with a lot of thunder and lightning), but it's been lighter precipitation-wise. Even today there continued to be light rainfall throughout the night.
Oh, and Fiyero was at the groomers in the afternoon, so Michael got to carry him around the local lake on the way home.
So, I managed to sneak some weather in this post, after all!
Friday, June 14, 2013
...[T]he rain has come...
Well, it looks like the rainy season has finally arrived. For a few nights we had soft, gentle rain; good for soaking into the earth. Then two nights ago we had a tremendous storm: the sky was filled with dark clouds, lightning began to explode in the skies south of town (our side), and eventually the lightning and thunder melded overhead.
Fiyero had been sleeping on the bed; Miyake joined him from the floor. I would have thought that Miyake would have stayed in her place (between the bed and the dresser on the side away from the windows, but she jumped right up, turned around a few times, and settled down up against me. Her fur is a bit warm, but with enough encouragement she stayed in place throughout the entire storm (I know this because I was awake calming her). Thunder freaks her out (as do exploding cuetas), but she handled it pretty well.
After we finally got to sleep (the storm had moved on out to the campo north and east of the town), Michael was awake later in the night and told me that a soft rainfall had returned early in the morning. The debris washed up at the bottom of our hill was prodigious, that's for sure. The parking lot guy at the International Fitness gym must have removed it because by the time I returned home from our Wednesday morning koffee klatch, it was gone.
It had been raining gently earlier in the evening and had chased our dinner guests in from the backyard where we had been enjoying jalapeño wonton appetizers and margaritas as a prelude to dinner. We watched the newly installed 'fireflies' flitter in the bougainvilleas from the dining room windows, instead.
So last night we again had a gentle rain. 'Gentle' is good, as it allows the water to soak into the earth rather than run off as fast as it falls -- however, I love a good storm now and then. And since they tend to come in from the south - and our bedroom's french doors face in that directions - we usually have a good view of them across our second floor terrace and the homes on the next street.
Guess we'll put up with the increased humidity as a trade-off for the rain. More bothersome than annoying: our glasses of ice water we suck down condense the humidity in the air and form puddles wherever they are sitting. A worthwhile inconvenience.
Fiyero had been sleeping on the bed; Miyake joined him from the floor. I would have thought that Miyake would have stayed in her place (between the bed and the dresser on the side away from the windows, but she jumped right up, turned around a few times, and settled down up against me. Her fur is a bit warm, but with enough encouragement she stayed in place throughout the entire storm (I know this because I was awake calming her). Thunder freaks her out (as do exploding cuetas), but she handled it pretty well.
After we finally got to sleep (the storm had moved on out to the campo north and east of the town), Michael was awake later in the night and told me that a soft rainfall had returned early in the morning. The debris washed up at the bottom of our hill was prodigious, that's for sure. The parking lot guy at the International Fitness gym must have removed it because by the time I returned home from our Wednesday morning koffee klatch, it was gone.
It had been raining gently earlier in the evening and had chased our dinner guests in from the backyard where we had been enjoying jalapeño wonton appetizers and margaritas as a prelude to dinner. We watched the newly installed 'fireflies' flitter in the bougainvilleas from the dining room windows, instead.
So last night we again had a gentle rain. 'Gentle' is good, as it allows the water to soak into the earth rather than run off as fast as it falls -- however, I love a good storm now and then. And since they tend to come in from the south - and our bedroom's french doors face in that directions - we usually have a good view of them across our second floor terrace and the homes on the next street.
Guess we'll put up with the increased humidity as a trade-off for the rain. More bothersome than annoying: our glasses of ice water we suck down condense the humidity in the air and form puddles wherever they are sitting. A worthwhile inconvenience.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Heat Spell Breaks
Although it's not quite rainy season yet, and there were some sputtering starts along the way, we actually got rained on last night.
Rain has been predicted this week, but only a small chance of it. That usually means there may be a cloud or two in the sky. But yesterday afternoon there were some sprinkles: small drops at first, then larger ones, a roll of thunder ... and then everything stopped.
After dinner, the wind came up, rattling our windows and French doors. Dogs went into frightened mode, quivering while laying under our computer desks. A great, loud crash was the result of our bedroom's French door swinging open and then closing rapidly in the wind. More terror for the dogs!
Eventually everyone went to bed, drifting off to sleep in a hot, humid atmosphere - only to awake close to midnight to the pitter-pat of soft rain falling. It felt glorious and it was falling so slowly that the rain should have a chance to soak into the earth rather than just run off. Just the kind of rain we needed!
Now if only the 'real' rainy season will arrive and continue to shower down upon us. Michael said that last year - when I was in the MidWest - it was unreasonably hot before the storms arrived. It did reach 91F yesterday. Let's hope it doesn't make it that high any time soon!
Rain has been predicted this week, but only a small chance of it. That usually means there may be a cloud or two in the sky. But yesterday afternoon there were some sprinkles: small drops at first, then larger ones, a roll of thunder ... and then everything stopped.
After dinner, the wind came up, rattling our windows and French doors. Dogs went into frightened mode, quivering while laying under our computer desks. A great, loud crash was the result of our bedroom's French door swinging open and then closing rapidly in the wind. More terror for the dogs!
Eventually everyone went to bed, drifting off to sleep in a hot, humid atmosphere - only to awake close to midnight to the pitter-pat of soft rain falling. It felt glorious and it was falling so slowly that the rain should have a chance to soak into the earth rather than just run off. Just the kind of rain we needed!
Now if only the 'real' rainy season will arrive and continue to shower down upon us. Michael said that last year - when I was in the MidWest - it was unreasonably hot before the storms arrived. It did reach 91F yesterday. Let's hope it doesn't make it that high any time soon!
Monday, May 20, 2013
Vacationing from Retirement
We will now try to book all our trips from our 'local' airport (only an hour or so away), rather than Mexico City. That long bus trip (3-1/2 hours) is especially painful (even in an executive class bus with spacious seats) at the end of the vacation. And we tried to save a few bucks on the trip to Mexico City and chose a bus line that stopped every few miles to pick up riders. Mistake! It became a 4-hour trip, but had left earlier, so it got us to the bus station in DF earlier than the other lines, which was a good thing, as it turned out.
It didn't help that the taxi-ticket-seller person sold us a taxi ticket to the Centro Historico district instead of the Aeropuerto - which cost us an extra $100 peso tip to the driver to take us to the airport instead. And then, upon arrival at the International terminal for our flight to Houston, we found out that all United flights are from the Domestic Terminal...so the taxi driver reloaded our luggage and took us to the other terminal - which has no direct connection to the international terminal - and when he drove out of Terminal 2 with passengers, the Federales stopped him and we had to show them our plane reservations for the flight from Terminal One before they would let us go. Needless to say, he got an extra tip of another $100 pesos. (I think he was shocked at that.) At least we got to the correct terminal and checked in with time to spare.
However, once on the plane to Houston International (I still can't bring myself to call it B*** International) things went swell. Their customs/immigration lines were really long, but moved along nicely. Disney had provided a limo to take us to Galveston where we stayed in the Galvez Hotel - it's a Wyndham hotel across the street from the waterfront (unfortunately the lobby was all torn up making it more wonderful) - and then Disney picked us up the next morning by bus and took us to the ship.
Our table mates for dinner were a couple from northern Scotland and another couple from Texas, but they'd lived all over the world and were civilized folk. We always were the last table out of the restaurant each night!
Anyway, we had a nice cruise with several sea days (which we quite enjoy) and stops at Disney's private island (Castaway Cay - which is completely and solely Disney), a day at Walt Disney World with parkhopper tix (we splurged and took two private tours: Wild Africa Trek in Animal Kingdom and a dessert party while we saw the IllumiNations fireworks show in EPCOT; the AK trek was fabulous, the dessert party not so much), and in Key West we had booked breakfast at the Latitudes restaurant on the beach at the Westin Resort on their private island just off the coast. Then a few more sea days and we were back to reality!
The Disney Magic was next to cross the Atlantic (we have friends on it) and do a summer of Mediterranean cruises before an extensive dry dock to upgrade it to something closer to the new Fantasy and Dream ships.
Once we made our way back to Mexico City, we chose the wrong bus line: we went with the 3-across seating bus instead of the 4-across seating bus. Both were executive class but the bus line we chose left an hour later.... At least we finally ended up in San Miguel and caught a cab home and were greeted by exuberant doggies just before midnight!
Sunday we spent unpacking and washing multiple loads of clothing - even though we'd done laundry while on the ship. We hadn't restocked our cabinets, so it was dinner out last night. And it will be dinner out tonight if I don't zip over to the grocery store when I finish this entry!
Just booked our shuttle transport for January so things are aligned for our visit to Cabo to see my brother and his wife while at their condo in Cabo.
We only have one other trip between now and then - a week at the Santa Fe Opera in August featuring Traviata, La Donna del Lago, the Duchess of Gerolstein, Marriage of Figaro, and a world premier of Oscar with David Daniels (new, hot countertenor in The Enchanted Island at the Met). The Lady of the Lake and Duchess each feature one of Santa Fe's semi-resident (they each own a house in Santa Fe that our friends' business takes care of when they're not around) divas: Susan Graham (in Les Troyens at the Met) and Joyce Di Donato (in Maria Stuarda at the Met).
Then it's on to Cabo! I think next year may be a year of respite....
It didn't help that the taxi-ticket-seller person sold us a taxi ticket to the Centro Historico district instead of the Aeropuerto - which cost us an extra $100 peso tip to the driver to take us to the airport instead. And then, upon arrival at the International terminal for our flight to Houston, we found out that all United flights are from the Domestic Terminal...so the taxi driver reloaded our luggage and took us to the other terminal - which has no direct connection to the international terminal - and when he drove out of Terminal 2 with passengers, the Federales stopped him and we had to show them our plane reservations for the flight from Terminal One before they would let us go. Needless to say, he got an extra tip of another $100 pesos. (I think he was shocked at that.) At least we got to the correct terminal and checked in with time to spare.
However, once on the plane to Houston International (I still can't bring myself to call it B*** International) things went swell. Their customs/immigration lines were really long, but moved along nicely. Disney had provided a limo to take us to Galveston where we stayed in the Galvez Hotel - it's a Wyndham hotel across the street from the waterfront (unfortunately the lobby was all torn up making it more wonderful) - and then Disney picked us up the next morning by bus and took us to the ship.
Our table mates for dinner were a couple from northern Scotland and another couple from Texas, but they'd lived all over the world and were civilized folk. We always were the last table out of the restaurant each night!
Anyway, we had a nice cruise with several sea days (which we quite enjoy) and stops at Disney's private island (Castaway Cay - which is completely and solely Disney), a day at Walt Disney World with parkhopper tix (we splurged and took two private tours: Wild Africa Trek in Animal Kingdom and a dessert party while we saw the IllumiNations fireworks show in EPCOT; the AK trek was fabulous, the dessert party not so much), and in Key West we had booked breakfast at the Latitudes restaurant on the beach at the Westin Resort on their private island just off the coast. Then a few more sea days and we were back to reality!
The Disney Magic was next to cross the Atlantic (we have friends on it) and do a summer of Mediterranean cruises before an extensive dry dock to upgrade it to something closer to the new Fantasy and Dream ships.
Once we made our way back to Mexico City, we chose the wrong bus line: we went with the 3-across seating bus instead of the 4-across seating bus. Both were executive class but the bus line we chose left an hour later.... At least we finally ended up in San Miguel and caught a cab home and were greeted by exuberant doggies just before midnight!
Sunday we spent unpacking and washing multiple loads of clothing - even though we'd done laundry while on the ship. We hadn't restocked our cabinets, so it was dinner out last night. And it will be dinner out tonight if I don't zip over to the grocery store when I finish this entry!
Just booked our shuttle transport for January so things are aligned for our visit to Cabo to see my brother and his wife while at their condo in Cabo.
We only have one other trip between now and then - a week at the Santa Fe Opera in August featuring Traviata, La Donna del Lago, the Duchess of Gerolstein, Marriage of Figaro, and a world premier of Oscar with David Daniels (new, hot countertenor in The Enchanted Island at the Met). The Lady of the Lake and Duchess each feature one of Santa Fe's semi-resident (they each own a house in Santa Fe that our friends' business takes care of when they're not around) divas: Susan Graham (in Les Troyens at the Met) and Joyce Di Donato (in Maria Stuarda at the Met).
Then it's on to Cabo! I think next year may be a year of respite....
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